Delivered to The Israel Lobby and American Policy conference March 24, 2017 at the National Press Club
The Israel Lobby and American Policy conference was solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). This is a rush transcript.
Dale Sprusansky: Our final keynote is a man who is well known to all of you, Ilan Pappé. As Hanan Ashrawi mentioned earlier today, in an age of alternative facts, I think we can all agree on the importance of being able to discern truth from fiction. While alternative facts may be a new term in American politics, the idea behind it is far from original. As we all know, for decades colonial powers have developed and propagated false narratives to legitimize the subjugation of indigenous peoples.
Like colonists before them, Israel has relied on alt history, a false or distorted account of history to justify its policy toward the Palestinians. If the so-called conflict is ever going to be resolved, the events that led to the creation of Israel – namely the Nakba – must be reckoned with. This reality, that an honest understanding of the past is necessary to pave a better tomorrow, is the reason we invited historian Ilan Pappé to today’s conference.
Ilan Pappé has written prolifically and with honesty and courage on the history of Israel and the events that facilitated its creation. His 2006 book, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, with its painfully honest title, created controversy, but it’s nonetheless a seminal book on this issue. Professor Pappé chose the title knowing that it would be provocative, but that it was also true to the research presented in his book. As I told him at dinner last night, one can say that, in choosing the title, Professor Pappé was being more timeless than timely.
I’m sure as the West slowly comes to better grips with the reckoning of the history of Israel, future generations will find the title of his book progressively less controversial – at least I hope. Ethnic Cleaning, of course, is just one of many books Professor Pappé has written. He has an upcoming book entitled Ten Myths about Israel, which will be released shortly and will surely be a valuable resource to those looking for a critical and honest assessment of pro-Israel narratives.
Professor Pappé is currently a professor of history and director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter in the UK. He was born in Haifa. Prior to coming to the UK, he was a senior lecturer in political science at the University of Haifa. His keynote today will focus on how an honest assessment of history is necessary in order to resolve the seemingly intractable conflict. Professor Pappé.
Ilan Pappé: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [STANDING OVATION] Thank you. Thank you very much. I’m really honored to be here, and thank you for the warm and empowering reception. I told my dear friend, Clayton [Swisher], that we have traveled farther than anyone else. For me it’s midnight, for him it’s 2:00 in the morning. Yet, we were put at the end of the conference. And we wondered what was the hidden agenda. Either they thought we can wake you up after a very long and exhaustive day. Or they thought that you are sleepy anyway, so you won’t notice the provocations that both of us are going to present to you. So we’ll see which one of the two narratives is valid.
Bill Quandt, in a series of articles in the Journal of Palestine Studies, very cleverly charted what makes an American president’s legacy about Israel and Palestine valid. He pointed to three major factors that inform such a legacy. One is the personality of the president. The second one are the lobbies. By the lobbies, he meant both the AIPAC and the Christian Zionist lobbies. The third group, he called them the professionals – the people who work in the State Department, in the National Security Council, in the intelligence community, and were there not necessarily just because of their political affiliation to the presidency, but also because – at least allegedly – of their professionalism.
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